We've all been in the circumstance where we're having a conversation (or argument) with someone and they're convinced you're wrong about something, even though you know you're right.

donhornsby's insight:

(Great Thoughts): "Just because you know you're right it doesn't mean getting into an actual argument is worth it. Sometimes, it's best to just let things go. At the very least, before you set out to prove that you're right, it's good to check your own argument. To those ends, Gil suggests you consider a few points before you even react."

There’s a lot of pain that comes with leadership. Struggles no one else ever sees. Betrayals by coworkers and friends. Business failures. And so much more. Which is why you need to be thankful for the things that you have each day.

There is often a learning curve whenever you enact change, so give yourself time to adopt these strategies. Remember, there are six areas that help build more neuroplasticity, and focusing on one at a time is the best way to ensure you devote the necessary time so it becomes a part of your life.

Do you wake up each morning hell-bent on making someone at work miserable? Do you intentionally ignore people or purposely avoid giving them what they need to succeed? Are you totally oblivious to the affect your leadership has on those you lead? Sit in on one of my courses on self leadership and you might be surprised how many employees are convinced you do.

donhornsby's insight:

Your leadership is crucial to your people’s success, but it’s only one side of the leadership coin. The other side of the coin is self-leadership. These days of disruption and uncertainty demand developing new just-in-time strategies. Those strategies depend on successfully developing the proactive self-leadership skills and self-reliance of your individual contributors

Tapping Into Monastic Curiosity Many of the things I do are motivated by curiosity. I get interested in something and set off to find out more about it. The leaders who inspire me are curious. They want to find out how far or fast we can go and what is going to happen next. There …

donhornsby's insight:

Curiosity may inspire us to move further out into the world. It could draw us toward exploring our true selves. We may pursue what makes us curious in a classroom or an office or a monastery. I wonder where curiosity might take us next.

As a leader – here are five practical things you can do to deepen the level of ownership, commitment, accountability and passion in your team.

donhornsby's insight:

While I have directed this list to “leaders” and “managers”, these topics are so universal and basic that anyone in the team, no matter what level or position, could suggest them, promote them and bring about positive change with them…. especially if they are eager to make a difference and are willing to be courageous.

Empathy is one of the most popular topics brought up for discussion by my executive coaching clients. It’s not surprising because empathy is the most important instrument in a leader’s toolbox. Effective leaders make it a priority to take care of their people. In return, their people give everything to protect and advance the mission of the organization. They know how to inspire and motivate by tapping into what their team truly value and want. And, with millennials firmly in the workplace, this will only become more important.

donhornsby's insight:

Empathy is not sympathy, nor is it feeling sorry for others. Instead, it is understanding what others are feeling or thinking. People tend to focus on the touchy-feely aspect of empathy, and it is indeed important to understand where another person is coming from. However, an empathetic leader is also capable of sensing what another person is thinking. This can be extremely helpful in everything from negotiating a salary to planning a social event for the office.

If ever there was a time when one person could singlehandedly create the Next Big Thing, it's long gone. Now, collaboration and connection is king, which on the surface makes sense—the more ideas we can share with each other, the faster we'll arrive at something important. Except, new experiments suggest, that intuition is wrong: Having everyone's ideas on the table all at once can actually stifle innovation.

In other words, being too connected could lead to a kind of cultural lock-in, where societies find something that works OK and stick with it, oblivious to the existence of other ideas that could improve their fate. Connection isn't everything; the pattern of connection matters too.

Most people go through life not really getting any smarter. Why? They simply won't do the work required.

It's easy to come home, sit on the couch, watch TV, and zone out until bedtime rolls around. But that's not going to help you get smarter.

Sure, you can go into the office the next day and discuss the details of last night's episode of Mad Men or Game of Thrones. And yes, you know what happened on Survivor. But that's not knowledge accumulation; that's a mind-numbing sedative.

You can acquire knowledge if you want it. In fact, there is a simple formula, which if followed is almost certain to make you smarter over time. Simple but not easy.

It involves a lot of hard work.

We'll call it the Buffett formula, named after Warren Buffett and his longtime business partner at Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger. These two are an extraordinary combination of minds. They are also learning machines.

It's important to think about the opportunity cost of this hour. On one hand, you can check Twitter, read some online news, and reply to a few emails while pretending to finish the memo that is supposed to be the focus of your attention. On the other hand, you can dedicate the time to improving yourself. In the short term, you're better off with the dopamine-laced rush of email and Twitter while multitasking. In the long term, the investment in learning something new and improving yourself goes further.

Your employees depend on you to lead them through a challenging time -- here's how to lead effectively following a company-wide red alert.

donhornsby's insight:

When a major issue occurs at your company, it's a true test of leadership. Will you kick into action, or will you allow the stress of the situation to get the best of you? The bottom line is this: A company crisis is when your employees need you most. They need to know that you care, that you truly believe that everything will be okay and that they can depend on you.

No matter how you look at your business, a culture of fear is never healthy or sustainable. In such an environment, people do limited work, are not fully engaged, look for other jobs and ultimately leave, spreading poor word of mouth about your employment brand. Simply asking your people the right questions and gaining honest feedback—even if it is anonymous—can expose critical opportunities for cultural, organizational, people and business growth.

Has your boss stopped returning your calls? Have they stopped asking you for your opinion or introducing you to new clients? It's time to consider the possibility that you're being frozen out from above. Here are some surefire signs that you've fallen out of favor--and, on the positive side, what you can do about them.

Here’s the bottom line: While you shouldn’t believe everything you hear about mindfulness, there are, indeed, payoffs from a meditation habit. In fact, the research also shows that more hours of meditation you put in over your lifetime, the better the results on the four fronts we’ve described. Think of mindfulness as a way to enhance certain kinds of mental fitness, just as regular workouts at the gym build physical fitness.

We all have had times in our lives where we felt like giving up, and what we did next helped define who we are as people. Generally, we're proud of the moments when we persevere and see our goals to the end rather than abandon them when the going gets tough. In this video, Entrepreneur Network partner Ben Angel explains two strategies you can use to motivate yourself when you feel like quitting.

In order to be a leader, you must utilize both your intelligence (IQ) and your emotional intelligence (EQ). With your emotional intelligence -- really focus on being ultra-perceptive of situations, employees' attitudes, and their own approach to interaction. By keeping these three concepts in mind every day in the trenches, your reward is an unobstructed perspective of your company that can lead to productivity, strength, and longevity.

One on one meetings are a cornerstone to any effective manager <-> team member relationship from small startups to giant companies. What you talk about, and the one on one meeting questions you ask, make all the difference in the performance of your team.

Okay, so what do I ask to build rapport and trust? The short answer is to be human! Find out what’s important to them and what their interests are. Start by getting to know them and then revisit asking about the things they care about in future one on one meetings.

I'm a big fan of one-on-ones as it allows some quality time with your staff both professionally and personally. It gives you the opportunity to bounce ideas and continue to build rapport & trust. If as a manager you feel you just can't squeeze that in then it's probably time to re-look at your diary as this needs to be a top priority. If you don't they'll find someone else that will. Happy Friday all.

When you organize your day with these principles in mind, you will have a new, improved day sculpted to manage information overload. There are many more ways to build strategic unfocus into your day. But to start this exercise, simply break up your workday into 45-minute segments with 15 minutes in between each segment. Exercise at the beginning or end of your day. During your first break, do proactive filtering. In all other breaks, check in with yourself to see if anything is disturbing you. Use reactive filtering (TMI) and thought substitution (positive for negative) early. When things start getting overwhelming, go for a walk to make connections or use local feedback control. Practice using these techniques often, and you will likely increase your brain’s efficiency significantly, and you may improve your quality time at home as well.

Uncertainty is scary. The unknown is scary. Leaders will always face uncertainty and the future will always be unknown. A company team I worked with recently has some pretty big anticipated hurdles coming up in about a year. The height of the hurdles is not clear, nor if there will be ground to land on…

donhornsby's insight:

Don’t let uncertainty undermine you or your team’s efforts. Stay on course. Focus and finish on what needs to be accomplished now.

It’s not your manager’s fault if you have nothing to talk about in your 1 on 1 meeting. In fact, every time you come to your meeting with nothing to discuss, it makes them dread their 1 on 1 meeting with you a little more. It also gives them another reason to want to cancel, or fill the time with status updates. No one likes pulling teeth, and it can be excruciating to try to draw everything out of you. This is why it’s important for you to think about what you want to talk about. Don’t make your answer to, “what do you want to talk about?” a blank stare.

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.